Locking sliding door



Marh 18, 1969 J. BRASSEUR 3,433,036

LOCKING SLIDING DOOR Filed NOV. 17, 1967 March 1969 J. BRASSEUR 3,433,036

LOCKING SLIDING DOOR Filed Nov. 17, 1967 Sheet 2 of 5 March 18, 1969 Filed Nov. 17, 1967 Sheet 3 of 5 L 29 Hg. 6 12H 73 3,433,036 LOCKING SLIDING DOOR Jacques Brasseur, St. Germain-en-Laye, France, assignor to Societe Anonyme Dite: Societe des Automobiles Simca Filed Nov. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 684,074 Claims priority, application France, Dec. 6, 1966,

US. Cl. 70-99 5 Claims Int. Cl. E05b 65/08; G05g 5/06 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to locking sliding doors, particularly for motor vehicles. Motor vehicle sliding doors are provided with locks of which the handles project from the inner and outer walls of the doors. Thus it is not possible to open the sliding doors in such a manner as completely to clear the door opening, since the projecting inner handle encounters an upright portion of the door frame disposed in its path of movement.

Moreover, on a thin door it is difiicult to provide housings sufficiently deep to contain the handles in such a way that they do not project whilst at the same time using a simple device for controlling the opening and closing of the door.

The object of the present invention is to provide a locking sliding door which may be relatively thin and in which the handles are housed at the exterior and interior of the door while enabling the door to be opened so as fully to clear the door aperture.

According to the present invention, a locking sliding door comprises two juxtaposed recesses formed respectively in the inner and outer walls of the door, inner and outer door handles disposed one within each recess and connected to a common spindle pivotally mounted in the door, one of said handles being shaped to form a locking bolt adapted to cooperate with a keeper rigid with a door frame in which the door is slidingly disposed, and resilient means urging the bolt into its locking position.

The outer handle is completely within its recess and thus there is no risk of accidents, and the inner handle which is also completely within its recess enables the door aperture to be completely uncovered when the door is in its open position. The invention also provides a construction in which a minimum of assembly elements are used in order to obtain a very simple and inexpensive locking door.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, an embodiment in accordance therewith will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the inner side of the door of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the line 11-11 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the outer handle of the door lock,

nited States Patent 3,433,036 Patented Mar. 18, 1969 FIG. is an elevational view of a door centering element,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view along the line VIVI of FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 is a sectional view along the line VIIVII of FIG. 6.

In FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 there is shown a locking sliding door 1 which comprises an outer wall 2 and an inner wall 3 both of sheet steel; in the inner wall 3 is formed a recess 4 in which is housed an inner handle 5 which is fixed to one end of a spindle 6 pivotally mounted in a sleeve 7 fixed to the walls 2 and 3 of the door. The spindle 6 has a shoulder 8 by means of which it bears against the sleeve 7. At the other end of the spindle 6 is fixed, by means of a resilient ring 9, an outer handle 10 having a gripping handle 10a and which is housed in a recess 11 formed in the outer wall 2 of the door. The inner and outer recesses 4 and 11 respectively are juxtaposed so that the greater part of the thickness of the door is used for each recess.

The inner recess 4 extends as far as the vicinity of the front edge of the door to enable the user to engage his hand in the recess to pull the door when the latter is in its open position and the handle is situated behind the wall of the vehicle body. The edge 12 of the door is situated opposite an upright of the frame 13 of the door rigid with the vehicle body and a tongue seal 14 fixed on the said upright of the door frame ensures that the door is sealed with the frame.

A keeper 15 is fixed on the door frame 13 by means of a plate 15a. The position of the keeper can be adjusted and it has a nose 16 formed thereon with which a bolt 17 is adapted to be engaged in the closed position of the door. The bolt 17 is formed by an extension 18 of the inner handle 5 and has a curved surface 19 which ensures the guiding of the bolt on the inclined portion 20 of the keeper when the door is closed.

The bolt 17 which is rigid with the inner handle 5 is subjected to the action of a resilient element constituted by a spring 21 disposed around the spindle 6 and bearing at one of its ends 22 on the wall 3 and at its other end 23 against an arm 24 of the inner handle 5.

At its portion opposite the bolt 17, the handle 5 has a nose 25 which co-operates with a locking element 26 having a housing 27 in which the nose engages in the locking position. The locking element 26 is controlled by a barrel lock 28 operated by a key.

The door described above is used in combination, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, with a device for centering the door which co-operates with a finger 29 fixed to an upright of the door frame 13 and possibly rigid, as shown in FIG. 5, with the keeper 15. The finger 29 which is provided with a sheath 30 in sheet steel is engaged in door centering device comprising a housing 31 defined by a cover 33 fixed to the inner wall 3 of the door by screws 34, the cover being provided at its interior with a lining 32 of elastic material, preferably rubber, against which bears the sheath 30 of the finger 29.

When the door is in its closed position as shown in full lines in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the user operates one of the inner or outer handles 10, 5 to cause it to pivot against the action of the spring 21 into the position shown in broken lines. When this movement occurs, the bolt 17, rigid with the handles 4 and 10, is disengaged from the keeper 16 and it is then possible to push the door open; simultaneously, the centering finger 29 is disengaged from its housing 31. Thereafter, when the door is open, the recesses 4 or 11 are used to pull and close the door without touching the handles. The curved face 19 of the bolt 17 comes into contact with the inclined portion 20 of the keeper 15 and causes the bolt and the handles 5 and 10 to rock against the action of the spring 21 until the 3 bolt 17 is engaged behind the nose 16 of the keeper 15 when the door is in its closed position.

When the barrel lock 28 is operated by means of a key, the locking element 28 is engaged with the nose 25 of the handle 5 where the lock is maintained in the locked position as shown in full lines in FIG. 1.

In order to unlock the lock it is sufiicient to actuate the barrel lock 28 to bring the locking element 26 into the position shown in broken lines in which the handles 5 and can pivot.

It will be seen that the lock of the door of the invention has no plates or screws.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment which has just been described above but covers all variants of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A locking sliding door having inner and outer walls slidably disposed within a door frame; said door comprisinto two juxtaposed recesses formed respectively in the inner and outer walls thereof; a spindle pivotably mounted in the door; inner and outer door handles disposed one within each recess and connected to the common spindle; a keeper rigid with said door frame; one of said handles being shaped to form a locking bolt adapted to co-operate with said keeper; and resilient means urging the bolt into its locking position.

2. A door according to claim 1 wherein a barrel lock controlled by a key is adapted to engage with an extension of the inner handle.

3. A door according to claim 1 wherein the inner and outer handles are disposed in their recesses in such a manner that their overall dimension is at the most equal to that of the thickness of the door.

4. A door according to claim 1 wherein the bolt has a curved nose and a slot of a shape corresponding to that of an adjustable tooth formed on the keeper.

5. A door according to claim 1 wherein centering means for the door are provided and comprise a housing defined by a cover open on one side and fixed to the inner wall of the door, said housing being adapted to engage a projection fixed to a door frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,580,666 4/1926 Hansen 292-128 2,13l,198 9/1938 Tasman 292223 2,317,700 4/ 1943 Thompson 292254 2,855,722 10/ 1958 Hillgren -100 2,723,148 11/1955 Johnson 292-302 3,012,430 12/1961 Spork 7099 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD J. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

